Automatic material working machine



Sept. 9, 1958 1 L. HALLENBE'CK' ETAL 2,850,789-

AUTOMATIC MATERIAL WORKING MACHINE 15 Sheets-Sheet 1- Filed July 16, 1953 Sept. 9, 1958 'r. HALLENBECK ETAL 2,350,789

AUTOMATIC MATERIAL WORKING MACHINE Filed July "1a, 1953 15 Sheets-Sheet 2 T. L.,HALLENBECK ETAL 2,850,789 AUTOMATIC MATERIAL WORKING MACHINE Fi'le d July 16. 1953 Sept. 9, 1958 15 Sheets-Sheet 3 ATTY- T. L. HALLENBECK ET AL AUTOMATIC MATERIAL WORKING MACHINE I Sept. 9, 1958 Filed July 16, 1953 15 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTORSZ T.L.HALI|ENBE BK 5.2.HALLENE'E CK BY LILNINNB N.

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T. L. HALLENBECK ET AL 2,850,789

AUTOMATIC MATERIAL WORKING MACHINE 15 Sheets-Sheet 5' Sept. 9, 1958 Filed July 16, 1953 INVYENTOR s I IEl 17 T.L.HALLBNE|EBK,

B.E.HALLENE1E I2K, BY LII NINNEM N Sept. 9, 1958' ,T. L. HALLENBECK ET AL 2,850,789

AUTOMATIC MATERIAL WORKING MACHINE 15 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed July 16, 1953 IHIHH m g? m% G w H d:

Sept. 9, 1958 'r. L. HALLENBECK ET AL/ 2,850,789

AUTOMATIC MATERIAL WORKING momma 15 Sheets-Sheet 7 Filed July 16, 1953 Sept. 9, 1958 T. L. HALLENBECK ET AL AUTOMATIC MATERIAL WORKING MACHINE Filed July 16, 1953 15 Sheets-Sheet 8 ATTY.

Sept. 9, 1958 'r. L. HALLENBECK ELTAL AUTOMATIC MATERIAL WORKING MACHINE Filed July 16, 1953 15 Sheets-Sheet 1O ATTY- ITi- ZQ- 754 Sept. 9, 1958 T. L. HALLENBECK ET AL AUTOMATIC MATERIAL WORKING MACHINE l5 Sheets-Sheet 11 Filed July 16, 1953 Sept. 9, 1958 i -r. 1.. HALLENBECK ETAL AUTOMATIC MATERIAL woaxmc momma 15 Sheets-Sheet 12 Filed July- 16, 1953 Fix-2E1 ATTY- 15 Sheets-Sheet 13 Roi-L FEEP MAGAZINE, FEED T. HALLENBECK ET AL FIXTURE (HU CK RIGHT (LAMP AUTOMATIC MATERIAL WORKING MACHINE STOCK s'roPs GRIP FEEDERS UNCLRMP GRIP FEEDER LOCKS cIXTURE I 3 1 LEFT CLAMP 6R" FEEDER UNCLAMPED RIGHTCLAMP GRIP FEEDER-S CHUCK Fun-02s 1.8m- CLAMP cRoPcYcLE ONLY Sept. 9, 1958 r. HALLENBECK ET AL AUTOMATIC MATERIAL WORKING MACHINE l5 Sheets-Sheet 14 Filed July 16, 1953 CROP CYCLE BY LJlN INN mm m Mm SWITCH RELEASE BAR 1" MAGAZINE I200 FEEDER MAGAZINE I MAGAZINE FEEDER SWITcM FEEDER I210 A v L I /10/ I500 I I510 I520 5/ Immune PULL T mosx 3 snor PINS MOTDR sum 0 NCLRMP INSERT @4530 cYLmosn SHOT PINS uucumr Pug a m Fm'un: c K /6/o ADVA NCE f 7 STOCK STOPS Lo -*/430 Rem -/77o rssusa'mawmo ,4 /44o r srocx STOPS "mow GRIP 3.5 amp FEEDERHRWARD resosn 14/0 swmm 4/2 /420 ADVANCE. l.$ T open i /4i.6' cm reeves /472 LS l RETRACT 470 :T] (LAMPS i A sew moms Y /495- l CL 05:: /46 T i amp FEEDER I CLAMPS "1 455 1' 3 I /3/0; T I329 RETRAcT 7 CLAMP Rou. L ENGAGE cvuuusn FEE-0E uou. FEEDER 43/ swn'cH LEVER CLAMP BAR mm; m Fl runs ROLL FEEDER U 32 /459 732 Liven 7/0 A 340 ADVANCE /7fi0 /6 SAW? fi m DISCHARGE musl 4 RETRACT Msummcmv l: a saws swmcn /8/0 2 /785 Auvmce ll/ novnuce /770 o namuenos RAMERS MIT m3? nmm'cv J/Z iuTRAcr /iz5 I 1 DRILL Menus REAMERS 2000 L #:fiflif 1 -L l s'mrv v45 573 1 m g swn'cu I INVENTORS: T. L.HALLENEE BK, B.E.HALLENEJE I:K-,

2,850,789 AUTOMATIC MATERIAL WORKING MACHINE Thomas L. Halleubeck, George E. Hallenbeck, and Lawrence D. Ninnernan, Toledo, Ohio; Thomas L. Hallenbeck, executor of the estate of George E. Hallenbeck, deceased, assignors to Baker Brothers, Inc., Toledo, Ohio, a corporation of California Application July 16, 1953, Serial No. 368,418 9 Claims. (Cl. 29-38) This invention relates to an automatic or semi-automatic material working or forming machine. More particularly, it deals with such a machine for forming articles directly from bars of stock by first clamping a length from the end of such a bar, cutting off said length and maintaining said clamping during all subsequent forming operations before releasing said length. Furthermore, this invention includes such a machine for simultaneously and automatically carrying out these operations on a plurality of bars of stock, such as for example a machine for making simultaneously a plurality of hollow wrist pins -for internal combustion engine pistons from an equal plurality of solid bars of stock automatically fed into the machine.

Previously, automatic screw machines have been produced for operating on a plurality of articles at the time in which a bundle of bars of stock is rotated by a plurality of fixed work stations, but in such devices the tools work on the stock only from one end of the bars and the articles are cut off after the forming operations are completed. It is also known to cut oil blanksfrom bars of stock which blanks are fed into a hopper and then automatically clamped into a trunnion wheel of an automatic screw machine in which the cutting tools may operate on both ends of the blanks at the same time.

It is an object of this invention to combine into one automatic machine the steps of cutting off the stock from the bars and operating on both ends of the blanks so cut ofi by gripping or clamping the blanks before they are cut from the bars of stock and maintaining this grip or clamp on said blanks for all subsequent machining operations.

Another object is to produce such a machine in which a plurality of bars of stock may be fed into different equally spaced starting work stations around a closed cyclic path or" a plurality of groups of similar work stations, so that a plurality of blanks can be given a plurality of machining operations simultaneously.

Another object is to produce such a machine in which a plurality of bars are fed at each of a plurality of starting work stations.

Another object is to produce such a machine which will automatically detect the end of a bar of stock fed into it to either stop its operation or to automatically or semi-automatically feed a new bar into the machine from a magazine, and crop off its end to insure a clean cut off end on the bar before continuing again its automatic operation on the bar.

Another object is to produce a machine which may automatically operate on bars of the same or different lengths and detect the end of each bar to set up a different set of operations for stopping the machine and/or cropping the end of the subsequent bars to be fed into the machine.

Another object is to produce such a machine in which the article to be produced is chucked only once for all the operations performed in the machine.

Another object is to produce such a machine which 2,850,789 Patented Sept. 9, 1958 saws off one blank from a bar of stock while subsequent blanks in the machine are being machined at different successive operating stations in the machine.

Another object is to produce such a machine having automatic electric and hydraulic control devices for feeding the bars of stock into the machine.

Another object is to produce unique relatively small fixed chucks or clamping devices which hold the articles to be machined, both for severing them from their bars of stock and for all subsequent machining operations which may be to either or both ends of the articles at the same time.

Another object is to produce such a machine in which the chucks for clamping the articles are intermittently indexed to and locked at successive operating stations equally spaced around a closed cyclic path.

Another object is to produce such a machine with a plurality of machining tools all of which operate simul Generally speaking, the machine of this invention comprises a plurality of working stations sequentially and equally spaced along a cyclic path, such as for example being equally angularly spaced around a circle. The articles to be machined are then clamped in a conveyor, such as the periphery of a trunnion wheel, which indexes to each of said stations in succession at which stations the articles are successively cut from bar stock, machined at one and/or both ends in several stages and then finally discharged from their conveyor. On either side of the indexing conveyor or trunnion wheel may be located tool cutting devices which move in unison axially to and from the trunnion wheel, with separate rotating cutting or machining tools for each of the successive working tool cutting devices there also may be provided means' for increasing the forward machining motion of one or more of the tools over and above the velocity of the operation of the whole device, such as for example a reamer over a drill, facer, or chamferer.

Automatic means may be provided for longitudinally feeding substantially equal lengths of bar stock into the first Working stage on the trunnion wheel. In cooperation with this feeding mechanism, there are provided around the trunnion wheel a plurality of chucks for the lengths of blanks of articles to be machined, with separate chucks for each of the working stations. Each chuck is clamped after such a length of the bar stock is fed into it and remain clamped while the length is cut from the bar, such as by a saw, and during all the machining operations until completed when it is unclamped at the last station just before indexing for a new length blank to be inserted into it. The blank or slug is thus produced in the trunnion wheel as well as machined in it.

A device also may be provided for determining the 1 the feeding mechanism so that any incompleted stub" end will be permitted to be discharged from the feeding mechanism, and also to set up a second sequence or crop cycle of operations. In the crop cycle only a short length of the next proceeding bar is fed into the path of the saws, so that its end Will be first cropped to form a straight fiush' end, before any blank lengths are fed into the machine.

A plurality of similar groups of a plurality of different work stations may be equally spaced in sequence around the cyclic path so that more than one first work station is provided for operating on a plurality of bars of stock equal to the plurality of said groups simultaneously, whereby an equal plurality of articles is formed during each reciprocating motion of the tool devices and each indexing of the trunnion wheel.

In the following description the cutting tools which have a greater velocity of advance than those of the other cutting tools in the machine will be referred to as accelerated tools, which is an accepted term in the art for such tools on automatic machines.

In order to explain the functions and operations of the machine of the present invention, reference will now be had in detail to a specific form of this invention for an automatic machine for simultaneously completing four hollow piston Wrist pins for internal combustion engines from solid bars of steel stock, each time its trunnion wheel is indexed except in the crop cycle position. The operations'performed in this machine include sawing off the blanks from the bars, facing, drilling, chamfering and reaming the blanks to form the wrist pins. The desription of this machine will be divided in the follow ing chapters and sub-chapters:

A. General Features 1. Base and arrangement of parts B. Bar Stock Feeding Mechanisms 2. Magazine feeder 3. Roll feeder 4. Grip feeder and counter C. Trunnion Wheel Assembly 5. Trunnion wheel mounting and drive 6. T runnion wheel fixture chucks D. Machining Operations 7. Stock stops and sawing mechanisms 8. Multiple cutting tool devices (a) Drills and facers (b) Accelerated reamers (c) Article ejectors E. Control Systems 9. Hydraulic systems 10. Electrically controlled sequence operations (a) Crop cycle (12) Automatic machining cycle The reference characters of the parts corresponding to each of these chapters will contain hundreds digits similar to the Arabic numbers of the above sub-chapters for purposes of convenience.

The above mentioned and other features and objects of this invention and the manner of attaining them are given more specific disclosure in the following description of embodiments of this invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of an assembled .automatic hollow wrist pin producing machine incorporating the features of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation taken from the right of the machine shown in Fig. 1' with the nearer saw driving mechanism and part of grip feeder mechanism removed;

Fig. 3 is an end elevation taken from the right end of the machine shown in Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged plan view of the bar stock feeding mechanisms showing the counter switches, parts of the cut-off mechanisms and the bar stock magazine rack;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged end view of bar magazine feed mechanism taken along line V-V of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the magazine feed device shown in Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a partially sectioned end view of the roll stock bar feeder mechanism taken along line VIIVII in Figs. 4 and 9;

Fig. 8 is a front view of the roll feeder taken along line VIII-VIII of Fig. 7 showing a pair of stock bars in roll feeding position;

Fig. 9 is a vertical section taken along line IX-IX of Fig. 7 showing the gears and links for the roll feeder and their operating mechanisms;

Fig. 10 is a section taken along line X-X of Fig. 9 showing a plan of the lever mechanism for the roll feeders;

Fig. 11 is an enlarged side elevation of the grip feeder mechanism which feeds substantially equal lengths of the bar stock into the trunnion wheel taken along line XI- X1 in Fig. 4 but with the saw retracted and a part broken away;

Fig. 12 is an enlarged view taken along line XIIXII in Figs. 4 and 11 with parts broken away, showing the grip feeder bar clamps, the grip feeder slide way, and part of the grip feeder forward locking device;

Fig. 13 is an enlarged side elevation of the trunnion wheel drive and tool guide facing plate taken from the left in Fig. 2 with the cutting tools retracted;

Fig. 14 is a section taken along line XIV-XIV of Fig. 13 showing a vertical section of the trunnion wheel and its drive in its mounting;

Fig. 15 is a fragmentary section taken along line XV- XV of Fig. 13 showing the hardened pin rest buttons between the trunnion wheel and its tool guide plates to prevent axial movement of the periphery of the trunnion wheel;

Fig. 16 is an enlarged side elevation of the trunnion wheel tool guide plate,'similar to Fig. 13 but taken from the other side, or from the right in Fig. 2;

Fig. 17 is a plan view of the drive for indexing the trunnion Wheel with parts broken away;

Fig. 18 is an enlarged sector of the trunnion wheel showing one of the chuck or fixture mechanisms for clamping and maintaining a bar blank throughout all the stages of operation in the machine;

Fig. 19 is a section taken along line XIX-XIX of Fig. 18 showing a detail of the jaws of a bar stock clamp;

Fig. 20 is a fragmentary enlarged vertical section of one of the clamping and wedging jaws of the chuck shown in Fig. 18;

Fig. 21 is a section taken along line XXL-XXI of Fig. 18 showing the chuck operating rack and pinion mechanism mounted in the trunnion wheel;

Fig. 22 is a front perspective face view of the right hand cutting tool device in Figs. 1 and 2 mounted on its slides;

Fig. 23 is a perspective face view of the left hand cutting tool device shown in Figs. 1 and 2 mounted on its slides;

Fig. 24 is a schematic strip diagram of one group of the different operating or working stages or stations around half of the trunnion wheel of the machine shown in Figs. 1-3;

Fig. 25 is schematic sectional diagram showing the operations performed with the tools engaged to their full depths in making wrist pins according to the stages shown inFig. 24;

Fig. 26.is' a sectional showing of a modified form of cutting tools' for combining the first two operating stages shown in Fig. 25;

Fig. 27 is a side elevation of the device for accelerating the advance of one of the tools. namely the reamc s. mounted on the right-hand tool device shown in Fig. 2 in cooperation with an edge portion of the trunnion wheel. as well as part of the means for ejecting the compleied products;

Fig. 28 is a side elevation with parts broken away of substantially only the ejecting mechanism slightly enlarged from that shown in Fig. 27;

Fig. 29 is an enlarged rear end view of the right-hand tool cutting devices shown in Fig. 2, showingthe location and end views of the two ejecting mechanisms as shown in Fig. 28;

Fig. 30 is a schematic diagram of the hydraulic system for controlling part of the movements of the bar stock feeding mechanisms, locking the trunnion wheel and the clamping of one of the chucks on the trunnion wheel;

Fig. 31 is a schematic diagram of another hydraulic system for operating some of the movements of the grip feeder mechanism, clamping of the other chuck on the trunnion wheel, and the unclamping of said chucks;

Fig. 32 is a schematic diagram of the hydraulic system for the accelerating movement of the reamers on the righthand cutting tool device shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 27;

Fig. 33 is a schematic diagram of an hydraulic system for moving the cutting tool devices and sawing mechanisms;

Fig. 34 is a schematic flow diagram of the operations which may be performed automatically or semi-automatically during the crop cycle for the machine of this invention, that is, to start the machine with a new bar of stock; and

Fig. 35 is a schematic flow diagram similar to Fig. 34 which shows the sequence of automatic operations of the machine of this invention when a bar is being fed into and used up in the machine, and how these operations may be interrupted and restarted or carried out semi-automatical- 1y.

A. GENERAL FEATURES 1. Base and arrangement of parts Referring to Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the specific embodiment of the machine of this invention disclosed herewith is for producing two wrist pins at a time in each of two groups of machine operating stages, which groups are arranged in successive semi-circular paths around an indexing and rotating trunnion wheel 500 located at substantially the center of the machine shown in these figures. The plan view of the machine shown in Fig. l discloses a crossshaped base having five portions, namely a central rectangular portion 100, equally extending side arm portions 101 and 102, and different length longitudinal end arm portions 103 and 1104, upon all four of which arm portions cutting tools reciprocate or slide toward and away from the trunnion wheel 500 mounted on the central portion 100. In this trunnion wheel 500 the chucks 600 are mounted for holding the rod blanks which are operated upon by the multiple cutting tools each time the wheel is indexed to another position or working station. The axis of the trunnion wheel 50 is located longitudinally to the longer arm portions 103 and 104 of the cross-shaped frame, which axis is supported above the central base portion 100 by two vertical parallel tool guide and supporting plates 510 and 511, adjacent to each of which the trunnion ends of the wheel 500 are journallcd. Mounted on top of these plates 510 and 511 there is located, at a slight angle from the vertical, the driving and indexing control mechanism 550 for the trunnion wheel including a separate driving motor 551 therefor.

Mounted on the shorter arm lengthwise of the machine may be a pair of cylindrical slide bars 113 along which the reciprocating cutting tool device 801 slides toward and away from the trunnion Wheel 500 each time the trunnion wheel is indexed. Its approach to the trunnion wheel is at first relatively rapid over a relatively longer distance and when all the rotating drills and cutting tools are ready to contact the article to be machined, the whole device 301 is then slowly moved forward for a relative shorter distance during the cutting of the articles, after which'it is again retracted at a relatively rapid rate again into the position shown in Fig. l. The forward position of this tool device 801 is shown in dotted lines at 803 in Fig. 2. Mounted on the device 801 and behind the multiple tool head 05 is a gear box 807 which is driven by a motor 009 whiei't operates all of the rotary cuting tools on the head 805 simultaneously.

Similarly, mounted on the longer arm 104 of the base may be a pair of cylindrical slide bars 114 along which the reciprocating cutting tool device 800 (similar to the device 801) slides toward and away from the trunnion wheel 500, first approaching it at a fast speed and then during the cutting operation approaching further at a slower speed, and then retracting into the position shown in Fig. l. The forward position of this tool device is shown in dotted lines at 802 in Fig. 2. Similarly to the device 801 this tool device 800 has a tool mounting head 804 in which a plurality of rotating tools are driven through a common gear box 806 by a separate motor 808, all mounted on the slides 114.

On each of the side arms 101 and 102 of the base of the machine may be mounted slides 121 and 122 upon which the cutting-off or sawing mechanisms 700 and 701 reciprocate, carrying their own separate motors 702 and 703 and separate rotating saws 704 and 705, respectively, toward and from the first stations #1 of each of the two groups of working stations provided around the trunnion wheel 500 each time the trunnion wheel is indexed. When these saws are in their full forward positions they overlap the peripheral edge of the trunnion wheel 500, as shown in Fig. 1 and in the dotted line positions shown in Figs. 3 and 13, in order to completely cut-oif the ends of the bars of stock 155 fed to the trunnion wheel from along the sides of the longer base portion 104.

Along the opposite sides of, and attached to this portion 104, there may be provided the bar stock feeding devices consisting of the magazine feeders 200 and 201, roll feeders 300 and 301, and grip feeders 400 and 401. The magazine and its feeders 200 and 201 may be supported above the base portion 104 by brackets and 131, and

"an extra floor bracket 132 (see Fig. 4) may be placed beyond the end of the machine to support the outer ends of the bars in the magazine. The roll feeders 300 and 301 may be supported at the outer end of the base portion 104 on a common stand 135, and the grip feeders 400 and 401 may be supported by brack-ets136 and 137 near the inner end of the base portion 104. Since the length of the bars 150 which are fed into the machine are preferably longer than the longest arm portion 104 of the base of the machine, and the longer the bars the longer the uninterrupted continuous operation of the machine be tween crop cycles, the roll feeders should be placed not farther from the grip feeders than they are from the outer ends of the bars 150.

The magazine feeders separately feed pairs of the bars 150 into each of two roller feeders which in turn feed those bars from positions 153 to the two grip feeders, which then feed the bars from the positions 155 to the first working stations #1 at the trunnion wheel 500. The magazine feeders may select the bars 150 (see Fig. 4) from parallel rows of bars set up between inclined bar guiding supporting strips 156, 157 and 158 projecting upwardly and outwardly from each side of the base portion 104.

Beneath the trunnion wheel 500 and longitudinally across the side arms 101 and 102 inside the base, may be provided a conveyor, such as a shaker conveyor 160 (see Figs. 2 and 3) for removing the chips and shavings, etc. which are cut from the bars and bar lengths by the machining and cutting tools. In Fig.2 the trough 161 of the conveyor 160 is shown to be fed by material collecting and deflecting plates 162. One end of the shaker conveyor shown in Fig. 3 may be provided with a motor 163 connected through gearing mechanism 164 for reciprocating the conveyor trough 161 against the action of a spring 165 located at the opposite end of the conveyor 160. The trough 161 may be open at one and at its lower end, shown at the left .in Fig. 3, .to

At the end of each group of stations, or the last stations #9 on the trunnion wheel, the completed blanks or articles 850 formed in the machine may be ejected 'into guide channels, such as 166 shown in Fig. 2, which direct the pieces into chutes 167 for removal out through an opening 158 in a side of the base portion 103; there being similar channels 166 and chutes 167 on each side of the base extension 103, for each of the two opposite discharging stations #9 around the trunnion wheel.

Attached to, but preferably located off from the machine at its outer corners are separate hydraulic pump and motor units, which may be mounted on their liquid reservoirs, and may be employed for operating the sliding movements, feeding mechanisms, locking mechanisms, etc. employed in the machine. For example, referring to Fig. l, motors 170 and 171 which drive hydraulic pumps 172 and 173, respectively, may be employed for operating the hydraulic cylinders 174 and 175 which move under the control of electrically operated hydraulic valves, for effecting the two forward and one retracting movements for the tool devices 800 and 801, respectively, as will be described later in chapter 9 and Fig. 33.

The motors 180 and 181 driving hydraulic pumps 182 and 183, shown at the end of the base portions 101 and 102, respectively, may be employed for operating bydraulic cylinders under the slides 121 and 122 for reciprocating the cutting-off mechanisms 700 and 701, respectively. These separate hydraulic systems may also be under the control of electrically operated hydraulic valves, which will move them similarly to that of the tool devices 800 and 801, as will also be described later in chapter 9 and Fig. 33.

The two additional motors 190 and 191, also located at the ends of the base portions 101 and 102, respectively, may be provided for driving the hydraulic pumps 192 and 193, respectively, and may be employed for operating the bar feeding and clamping mechanism through a plurality of separate hydraulic cylinders and their separate electrically controlled valves, as will be described later in sub-chapter 9 and Figs. 30 and 31.

The other additional motor 194 at the end of the base member 104 driving hydraulic pump 195, may be provided [or operating the automatic accelerating tool mechanisms mounted on the tool device 800, as will be more specifically described later in chapters 8b and 9 as shown in Fig. 33. V

The purpose of mounting these hydraulic pump and motor units at the corners of the machine is to remove them from the working center of the machine around the base portion 100, so that easy access can be had to the machining and machined parts in case chips get jammed in them, or the like, without'having to climb over these motors. This location also keeps the motors away from the cooling cutting liquid which is continuously circulated through the machine during its operation. Furthermore it enables the separate pump units and their hydraulic liquids to be kept cooler and more accessible for repairs.

The automatic control for the machine may be provided in a separate cabinet or cabinets, one of which may be located at 196 as shown in Fig. 1, adjacent which panel an operator for the machine may be positioned and upon which panel may be provided the manual control buttons for stopping and performing any one of the operations manually, as will be described later in subchapter in cooperation with the switches and buttons disclosed in the electrically controlled flow diagrams of Figs. 34 and 35. Another and larger cabinet 197, which may contain all of the electrical switches, relays, timers, etc., may be located further away from the machine and connected to the cabinet 196 through a bundle of electrical conductors 198 and connected to an electric current supply through conductors 199.

B. BAR STOCK FEEDING MECHANISMS 2. Magazine feeder Referring now to Figs. 4, 5 and 6 there are shown more details of one of the magazine feeders 201, adjacent the middle guiding supporting strips 156, 157 and 158 adjacent the roll feeder 301, providing slots 204 and 205 for the parallel rows of bars to roll and/or slide by gravity into the selector jaws 210 and 211 of the feeder. A pair of hydraulic cylinders 220 and 221 are connected to the ends of crank arms 222 and 223, respectively, the rotating axis end of which crank arms are keyed to the parallel shafts 224 and 225, which extend the length of the bar stock magazine. Adjacent Cit-Ill of the guiding strips of the magazine, there may be keyed to these shafts the selecting jaws or cams 210 and 211 (see Figs. 5 and 6). Thus, when the cylinders 220 and/or 221 are operated, either automatically or manually, the cut-out portions 212 and 213 in the jaws 210 and 211 are rocked to feed one new bar 150 from each corresponding slot 204 and 205 to the roll feeder 301, where these selected bars rest on the idler rolls 302 and 303 (see Figs. 4, 5, 7, 8 and 9).

Now four bars 150 have been fed, either one or all at a time, into each of the four positions 153, two on each side of the machine, and are resting on the rollers 302 and 303 for the next feeding step by the roller feeders 300 and 301, to move these bars longitudinally to the grip feeders 400 and 401 and toward the periphery of the trunnion wheel 500.

3. Roll feeder of this shaft 315 is mounted a spurgear 320 which is driven by one of the two motors 321 through a reduction gear device 322. The gear 320 is in mesh with pair of gears 324 and 325 which are keyed to the stub shaft 330 and 331 together with the positively driven rollers 304 and 305, respectively. Since the movement of the levers 310 and 311 is plauetarily around the same pivotal axis as that of the drive gear 320, the gears 32; and 325 are always in rotation when gear 320 is rotated.

The operation of the levers 310 and 311 may be controlled by separate hydraulic cylinders 340 and 341 having pistons 342 and 343 pivoted to the outer ends of the levers 310 and 311, respectively, so that when the driven rollers 304 and 305 are to be engaged with the bars 153 to feed them longitudinally to their corresponding grip feeder 401, the pistons are operated to move the rotating rollers 304 and 305 downwardly into the positions shown in Figs. 7, 8, 9 and 10, to push the pair of bars 153, longitudinally into the position of bar; (see Fig. 4) whereby they abut against the extended stock stops 710 and 711 which will be described later in chapter 7 and during the cropping cycle.

After the grip feeders have taken over the feeding of the bars from their position 155, the pistons 342 and 343 may be raised, the motors 321 may be stopped and the stock stops retracted, so that the bars will be only under the control of the grip feeders and free to roll on their supporting idler rollers 302 and 363 and other similar idler rollers as 350 and 351 (see Fig. 4) which may be provided on brackets 131 and 132. The further control of the cylinders 340 and 341 will be described in connection with the operation and the hydraulic system shown in Fig. 30 in chapters 9 and 10 which follow.

'4. Grip feeder and counter Referring first to Figs. 1 and 4, there are shown adjacent the trunnion wheel 509 and next to the saws 704 and 705 the grip feeder mechanisms 400 and 401, respectively, for feeding substantially equal lengths of bars 155 successively into the chucks 600 on the trunnion wheel 500. Each of the pair of grip feeders 400 and 401 comprises four separate hydraulic cylinders for operating this mechanism, namely the opposing pair of cylinders 410 and 411 for gripping the ends of a pair of bars 155 adjacent the trunnion wheel 5110, a larger cylinder 414 or 415 for moving the gripping mechanism together with their pair of bars 155 the length substantially equivalent to the length of the blanks to be cut-off in the rotating trunnion wheel of the machine, and hydraulic cylinder 417 (see Fig. 12) which locks the grip feeder in its forward position during the cropping cycle which will be described later, that is only when the very tip end of a new bar is to be sawed off to form a smooth surfaced end before the bar is fed by stud or blank lengths into the trunnion wheel. Thus, the hydraulic cylinder 417 is only operated during the cropping cycle, as are the cylinders which operate the magazine feeders and the roll feeders described in the previous two chapters 2 and 3. The grip feeder mechanisms are supported by the base portion 100 on stationary brackets 136 and 137, and only their bar gripping parts and hydraulic cylinders 410 and 411 are moved relative to their brackets 136 and 137 by the cylinders 414 and 415. The control of these hydraulic cylinders is through electrically operated hydraulic valves under the automatic control of relays, solenoids and timers, and limit switches such as switch 412 in Fig. 12, as will be described in the system disclosed in Figs. 30, 31, 34 and 35 in chapters 9 and 10 which follow;

The bars 155 may be guided by the rollers 42% (see Fig. 11) into the apertures 424 and 425 between the fixed gripping jaws 426 and 427 and the movable gripping jaws 428 and 429, respectively (see Fig. 12). The slidably movable jaws 428 and 429 are slid toward the jaws 426 and 427 by the cam action of the beveled piston heads 430 and 431 of hydraulic cylinders 410 and 411, respectively, against rollers 432 and 433 mounted on the slides 434 and 435 carrying the jaws 428 and 429. Thus, as the pistons 436 and 437 from the cylinders 410 and 411 are forced outwardly from their cylinders toward each other as shown in Fig. 12, the sliding jaws 428 and 429 are pressed against the bars 155 inserted into apertures 424 and 425 to grip these bars by clamping them against the relatively fixed jaws 426 and 427,

respectively. When the rods 155 have thus been gripped, the cylinders 414 and 415 may be energized to move the movable parts 440 and 441 of the grip feeders 400 and 401, respectively (see Fig. 4 also), carrying said cylinders 410 and 411 Within their gripping jaws, along the fixed slides 442 and 443 (see Figs. 4 and 12) toward the trunnion wheel 500. The limits of the strokes of these movable parts may be adjusted by bolt 444 (see Fig. ll) to correspond substantially to the blank lengths to be inserted into the trunnion Wheel 500 and sawed off by the saws 704 and 705.

The hydraulic cylinders 414 and 415 are provided with extra piston heads 464 and 465 and connections (see Fig. 31), so that they may be retracted for a distance greater than the predetermined length distance of the blanks, at the end of each bar, so that any stub end less than the length of a blank will be sufi'iciently clear of the jaws 426, 427, 428 and 429 after the last sawing operation to permit such a stub to be removed or to drop onto the shaker conveyor 160 without jamming the apparatus. The operation of these extra piston heads 464 and 465 of cylinders 414 and 415 will be described later in connection with. Fig. 31 and the operation flow of Fig. 35.

In order to determine the rear end of bars 155, or when a bar is used up and the machine should be prepared for determined number of blanks until the bar is used up.

The purpose of locating these switches 470 and 471 (similar to cam operated switch 412 in Fig.- 12) at a distance back from the trunnion wheel is to prevent them from being affected by the cutting and cooling liquid circulated around the trunion wheel and by any chips or shavings which may be thrown off by the cutting tools.

Only during the cropping cycle when the front tip end of a new bar of stock is being cut-off, is the grip feeder slide locking device, comprising hydraulic cylinder 417, put into operation. This cylinder 417 is then operated to lock the sliding part 441 only when it is in its forward position as shown in Fig. 11 (as distinguished from its rearward position as shown in Fig. 4) by pulling a section 477 (see Fig. 12) of the dove-tailed immovable part 478 of the grip feeder 441 tightly against the movable part 441 of the slide 442, to steady the movable part 441 when its grippers 426, 427, 428 and 429 are the only clamps holding the new bars when the saw 705 crops ofi the stub ends of said new bars. The grip feeder 440 is constructed and operates similarly to the grip feeder 441 just described.

C. TRUNNTON WHEEL ASSEMBLY 5. Trunnion wheel drive and mounting Referring now to Figs. l3, l4, 15, 16 and 17 there are shown details of the trunnion wheel mounting and drive mechanism, wherein the trunnion wheel 500 is mounted between the guide plates 510 and 511 which are bridged across their tops by plate 515 for supporting the indexing mechanism 550 and for reinforcing the plates 510 and 511. Inside of and anchored to the plates 510 and 511 may be mounted additional parallel supporting members or plates 520 and 521 in which may be mounted the roller bearings 524 and 525 which support and journal the trunnions 526 and 527, respectively, of the trunnion wheel 500. At equal radial distances from the axis of the trunnion wheel, there are located apertures or holes 530, 532 and 531, 533 circumferentially in the plates 510, 524i and 511, 521, respectively, which act as openings and guides for the reciprocating drill and cutting tools mounted on devices 800 and 801 at the working stations around the trunnion wheel. Also at equal radial positions and spaced at equal angular distances around and inside of the guide holes there may be placed adjustable alignment and abutment screws 535 (see Fig. 15) having projecting hardened ends 536 which abut at each of the indexing stations of the trunnion Wheel 50%) with hard headed rivets 537 fastened in the sides of the trunnion wheel, to reduce wobble and axial movement of the trunnion wheel 500 when the cutting tools are operating on the blanks chucked in the trunnion wheel 500.

Mounted on one of the plate members 511 there may be mounted a radially extending drive shaft 540 which extends up at a slide angle from the vertical in order not to cover one of the apertures 531' or 533, and at a station where there is no cutting tool from that side of the trunnion wheel (see Fig. 24). This shaft 540 may have keyed to its lower end a bevel gear 541 Which meshes With a bevel gear 542 keyed to the trunnion 526 of. the trunnion wheel 500. The outer end of the shaft 540 may be provided with a spur gear 545 in mesh with another spur gear 546 mounted on a shaft 547, parallel to shaft 540, that extends into the housing of the indexing and driving mechanism 550 which controls the rotation of the trun- 

